Foul play at a recent OTB tournament : Does being a kid give you a free pass?

At a recent tournament, I witnessed some drama unfold towards the end when it was discovered that a kid (aged 8-12) changed the wallchart score after assuming that his/her opponent went home after the final game.

While this may be brushed off as the usual nonsense that happens in scholastics, this happened in the Open section.  The TD investigated and justly awarded the win to the right player.

Some parents (not the kid's), myself and some other players were debating what kind of punishment seemed fair, given his age?

Do we leave it to the parents?  His/her opponent was justifiably livid and considered expulsion from the Federation as a sentence. Others say suspension would do it.  Some played the "awwww, he's an adorable prodigy kid playing in the open section with GMs and IMs, cut him some slack" card and thought a stern scolding would do it.

What's fair?  Thought I'd get the world's opinion on this. Given that I'm a TD in training, I'd appreciate some guidance if this kind of foul play happens under my watch in the future.

Disclaimer: Please do not quote real/player names as it is not our place to do so. The facts as they are will open up to the circles involved. This thread is merely a discussion on the severity of punishment for non-adults when it comes to chess. Thanks!

I think the kid's age will have a bearing on the scope of punishment. What age is he? you don't say.

In an Open section involving IMs and GMs etc, the tournament should act like an adult tournament, and collect result slips with both players' signatures on them.

What was the real result of the game? If it was a draw, then he already got some punishment, but if he lost it in the first place then something more should be done, I guess. But it should never be possible in the first place.

I updated the post to reflect the age range.

The result was a clear loss for the kid, as the score sheet that the other player produced (after he got back) indicated.

  The kid's age is clearly a factor, but what about the section he plays in?  I wonder if titled players who really make an open section competitive and successful from an organizer's perspective may get discouraged and not re-attend these venues if zero tolerance is not observed.

Storm in a tea-cup... the cross-table on the wall is not the master copy, from what I've seen, all TD's bring a laptop nowadays for the purposes of pairing and producing the final cross-table. In falsifying the wallchart the kid did nothing to corrupt the results, nor could he do so. I think the shame of getting caught will be sufficient for one so young.

I think he should be executed.

Not if the TD uses the final wall chart to update said laptop + master-cross table.  I've seen many a TD swear by the wallchart because in the event of any foul play, both players would be present to see the final sheet and standings. This was an exception to that, given that the winning player was ready to hit the road as soon as his game got over.

"Not if the TD uses the final wall chart to update said laptop + master-cross table"

That is a bad practice, the TD should enter the result from the signed scoresheets, that's why in tournament play they are almost always duplicate forms.

How is it that a kid so young was in the Open section ? Is he over 2000 or just decided to "play up" ?  In any event he should be punished. I would suspend him for an amount of time from rated tournament play if it were up to me.

This shouldn't be standard practice even in scholastics. I mean why? If we let kids get away with this, they will see it as acceptable behaviour down the road. Suspension seems reasonable to me, but on the other hand, I've only spent about 5 minutes thinking about it, so it's pretty much just my gut.

I think that the kid's age will bear on the punishment, though I do not think that it should.  This is a very good illustration of a psycological point:  If we are treated like a child for all of our lives, then we will act like children.  This child was obviously never punished heavily for this kind of thing before, and was used to getting his own way.  He was playing in an adult tournament, and has just been treated like an adult (a scary proposition).  He reacts in the way that has always worked before (probably the puppy eyes trick).  To make sure that he never does this kind of thing again, he should still be treated like an adult.  I would have kicked him out of the tournament with the rest of his games as losses.

If he/she is playing in the open then I would imagine chess is the love of their life. A 3-6 month suspension from rated competition would be appropriate as far as I am concerned. The mandatory time away would teach the child a valuable life lesson. We should think of this as an educational opportunity for all of our chess children. If we miss out on this instance, we may not be able to help this kid going forward. 

The kid has to learn a lesson..

so you just tell him.. dont do it again, next time you do it you wont be able to play chess for a while and the kid might learn his lesson..

Like for me for example if i done it (its because i didnt know the rules because it mightav been my first tournament etc..) so if my parents told me to not do it again then ill remember that thats against the rules and i wont do it again.

But if the kid went to atleast 3 other rated tournaments then a punishment should be deserved (because he should know by now that that is against the rules)

I have a hard time going along with that... First time tourney or not, any kid at that age should know better than walking up to a wall chart and intentionally changing the score so that he wins and his opponent loses.  Kids learn the concept of cheating at a much younger age, and whether or not they know all the rules of playing in a tournament, certain basic premises of "cheating" exist in ALL games.

If this is not a scholastic tournament, then age does not matter.  Standard USCF/FIDE rules should dictate the level of punishment here.  If the parents want to only scold, or exact a heavier punishment, that is up to them.

If this was a scholastic tournament, I would feel it quite justified to suspend them for several months of rated play.  I don't want to discourage them from playing chess, but cheating in chess tournaments is a serious matter.  I don't feel this is something that should only be left to the parents for discipline.  Is that the way it works in sports?  What about at school?  Do schools not exact some kind of punishment for misbehavior in addition to calling the parents? 

Anyways, I can see arguments on both sides of the fence, and I don't think any of them are wrong.  Parent discipline may work just fine for some kids, but others may need something more... It is certainly not an exact science.

Assuming this was a USCF tournament, there is a procedure. It seems clear that the kid violated the USCF Code of Ethics; anything from "intentional violation of tournament regulations" to "attempting to interfere with the rights of any USCF player" could apply. Any USCF member can refer the matter to the USCF's Ethics Committee, which can assess punishments ranging from a reprimand with a probation period to expulsion.

Of course, the problem is that the USCF would probably not consider this a priority item; and if it took up the case and really did an investigation, it would probably take a year or more. Probably the best relief would be at the tournament organizer level--if this group is the major organizer in your area, they can simply choose to deny him entry to future events.

Fourty years ago a clout on the ear would have done the trick....

It certainly shows weaknesses in the system... USCF is not as effective as it could be here, and since there isn't a sub-organization of TD's, blacklisting or temporarily banning somebody doesn't really work.

In the end, it comes down to the parents... if the organization (in this case, the organizer, since USCF may not be able to respond in a timely manner) states that they should be suspended for awhile, the parents can either honor it or circumvent it by taking the child to other tournaments organized by other people.  If that happens, then who knows if the child will learn anything, especially if the parents "cheat" the process as well.

Parents are integral to the process.

Wall charts should not be the final authority in determining a decision.  If this is the Open Section with IMs and GMs, signatures on slips indicating the result should be used.  However, the kid was wrong.  This kid is a potential adult and if not punished, will repeat this action in the future.  I would suggest not allowing entry into any tournament put on by the organizer.

Oh, come on.  Though I agree that he should definitely be punished--kids must learn that there are consequences for their actions, a lifetime ban is absurd.  We all did stupid, unethical things when we were young'uns.  Live and learn.

Suspension.